Interaction between ephrins/Eph receptors and excitatory amino acid receptors: possible relevance in the regulation of synaptic plasticity and in the pathophysiology of neuronal degeneration

• Published in: Journal of neurochemistry Vol. 98; no. 1; pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: Calò, Laura, Cinque, Carlo, Patanè, Monica, Schillaci, Danilo, Battaglia, Giuseppe, Melchiorri, Daniela, Nicoletti, Ferdinando, Bruno, Valeria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.07.2006; Blackwell
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Cell receptors; Cell structures and functions; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; ephrins; Ephrins - metabolism; epileptogenesis neurodegeneration; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; glutamate receptors; Humans; Medical sciences; Molecular and cellular biology; Monoamines receptors (catecholamine, serotonine, histamine, acetylcholine); Neurodegenerative Diseases - physiopathology; Neurology; Neuronal Plasticity - physiology; pain; Receptors, Eph Family - metabolism; Receptors, Glutamate - physiology; synaptic plasticity; Synaptic Transmission - physiology; Membrane protein; pain; Pathophysiology; Interaction; Aspartate; Glutamate receptor; Subunit; AMPA receptor; Neuron; Membrane transport; Synaptic plasticity; Excitatory aminoacid; Neurotransmitter; Degeneration; ephrins; epileptogenesis neurodegeneration; Eph receptor; Biological receptor; glutamate receptors
• ISSN: 0022-3042; 1471-4159
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2006.03844.x

There is increasing evidence that Eph receptors and their transmembrane ligands, named ephrins, interact with glutamate receptors in both developing and adult neurons. EphB receptors interact with proteins that regulate the membrane trafficking of α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methylisoxazole‐4‐propionate (AMPA) receptor subunits, and both ephrins and EphB receptors have been found to co‐localize with N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptors and to positively modulate NMDA receptor function. Moreover, pharmacologic activation of ephrin‐Bs amplifies group‐I metabotropic glutamate receptor signaling through mechanisms that involve NMDA receptors. The interaction with ionotropic or metabotropic glutamate receptors provides a substrate for the emerging role of ephrins and Eph receptors in the regulation of activity‐dependent forms of synaptic plasticity, such as long‐term potentiation and long‐term depression, which are established electrophysiologic models of associative learning. In addition, these interactions explain the involvement of ephrins/Eph receptors in the regulation of pain threshold and epileptogenesis, as well as their potential implication in processes of neuronal degeneration. This may stimulate the search for new drugs that might modulate excitatory synaptic transmission by interacting with the ephrin/Eph receptor system.